canna lillies

[CromulentKevin]

Pardon my ignorance, but I have been curious about this. I'm used to cannas going dormant in winter and popping back up in spring, which is how I understand it works for most people. But in frost free areas such as coastal San Diego or Los Angeles (or of course tropical locations around the world) are cannas evergreen or do they still enter a period of dormancy every so often. If they don't, do they just keep growing to tremendous heights or do they only get so high before each plant dies off? Maybe it is normal for people to just cut them down every so often to keep them from looking too gangly, if winter doesn't do it for them? Just curious!

[Really full garden]

Pardon my ignorance, but I have been curious about this. I'm used to cannas going dormant in winter and popping back up in spring, which is how I understand it works for most people. But in frost free areas such as coastal San Diego or Los Angeles (or of course tropical locations around the world) are cannas evergreen or do they still enter a period of dormancy every so often. If they don't, do they just keep growing to tremendous heights or do they only get so high before each plant dies off? Maybe it is normal for people to just cut them down every so often to keep them from looking too gangly, if winter doesn't do it for them? Just curious!

Here they are evergreen but start to look a little ratty so most people cut them back for cosmetic reasons and to stimulate new growth.Cannas seem to be insect magnets here so they almost always have disfigured leaves.

I think they look better in temperate climates.

[peachy]

Cannas can be a problem here. Plant one and in 6 months you have ten. Only a severe frost will cut them back, a mild frost will just singe the outermost leaves. They grow to about 2 metres, sometimes more if there is water around and will flower in winter but not as prolifically as in the warmer months. They get ratty looking quickly and need a fair amount of attention to look their best.

Peachy

[Gbarce]

Here in Manila (tropical climate) they die off after they flower but new shoots come out about a month after. So in our case they don't go through a dormant period. They do get pretty tall--6 1/2 to 7 feet tall including the flower spike.

Some varieties are dwarf though.

[CromulentKevin]

Thanks guys for the perspective. And yes, even here where they die back every year, they can easily get way out of control and outgrow quickly the area you intended them to be. And god help you if you want to get totally rid of them in an area. I planted some in a stupid spot and I've dug them out a million times, but apparently I just leave a little piece/root in there and some manage to pop back up every year.

[Palmə häl′ik]

Surprisingly I see these all over up in St.Louis, MO! I don't know if the homeowners are just throwing them away after winter or what? It's pretty much Zone 7 up here. But I have seen quite a few around...

Probably so cheap that they can just redo bulbs every spring... Or else dig them up and store them until Spring...

~Ray.

[Alicehunter2000]

Nothing to add to canna's growing in a more tropical climate.....just wanted to say I've learned to really love these plants. Lots of vibrant colors to choose from, tropical looking, comes back every year. I plan to make my marginal areas bastions of color with them.

[John Case]

Thanks guys for the perspective. And yes, even here where they die back every year, they can easily get way out of control and outgrow quickly the area you intended them to be. And god help you if you want to get totally rid of them in an area. I planted some in a stupid spot and I've dug them out a million times, but apparently I just leave a little piece/root in there and some manage to pop back up every year.

Kevin,

Dig em up, pot 'em , put them at the curbside and sell the cuttings say, 5 buck a pop.....you can then buy more palms.

Gardeners all over the world love cannas and buy them every year! Most people dig them up as annuals and replant in the winter with something else. Green house them and you'll be ahead of the game.

I donate all of my cannas (save one of each type) to my garden club for their annual plant sale in May. They are snapped up first, every year.

This way, you can control them and have color too.

Good luck!

[CromulentKevin]

Yeah, I like them very much, but am constantly digging up and thinning out them to keep them from taking over the whole garden. . .especially the tropicanna/phaison type. . .the most showy foliage, but the most aggressive grower. I'm digging up some chunks again probably this weekend. . .if anybody wants them, feel free. I don't think anybody would buy them as this variety although my favorite, is pretty common/cheap.

[John Case]

Yeah, I like them very much, but am constantly digging up and thinning out them to keep them from taking over the whole garden. . .especially the tropicanna/phaison type. . .the most showy foliage, but the most aggressive grower. I'm digging up some chunks again probably this weekend. . .if anybody wants them, feel free. I don't think anybody would buy them as this variety although my favorite, is pretty common/cheap.

You might be surprised.....prices here run 7 bucks for a gallon pot for tropicanna

[FRITO]

Ive wondered this same thing in tropical regions. by the end of season mine are looking "worn" and wndered if they declined further in tropical regions, good to know they are evergreen.

I too love canna, the tropicana canna is great looking, hard to find here though without losing the proverbial arm and leg.

i have not had luck with pollination on mine and never seem to find seeds in them? anyone have pictures of the seeds?

[Dave-Vero]

Canna flaccida, the southeastern native, doesn't like cool or dry weather.

[John Case]

Ive wondered this same thing in tropical regions. by the end of season mine are looking "worn" and wndered if they declined further in tropical regions, good to know they are evergreen.

I too love canna, the tropicana canna is great looking, hard to find here though without losing the proverbial arm and leg.

i have not had luck with pollination on mine and never seem to find seeds in them? anyone have pictures of the seeds?

Luke,

I throw the seeds out. I get tons of them every year, many of them go to ground without germination for me. I would expect that if they were viable (they very well may be) that they would not grow true to the mother plant.

1 corm of a canna can provide 50 new ones at the end of the growing season, it some cases. Who needs seeds?

I'll collect seeds this year from the flowers I have and send them to you if you'd like.

Thanks,

John

[bahia]

Here in the mildest parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, they are reliably evergreen year round perennials, and they actually continue to look good even after they have finished flowering if the bloom spikes are cut off, and as long as they have rich soil and regular summer irrigation in our 6 month long dry season. They don't have the problems with insect damage or diseases in our mild climate, and they do not keep growing taller, but different types/cultivars have different heights by their nature, but this can be influenced up or down by the care they get.

I personally prefer the types that have the smaller hanging tubular flowers that drop off cleanly rather than hang on, such as Canna iridiflora v. ehmannii, as the hybrids tend to look messy with the hanging faded flowers stuck on with the new ones. They grow like weeds here in an irrigated garden, and are great because the deer leave them alone, as do the gophers, and only the occasional snail or grasshoppers mar the foliage, but in warmer months the cannas are fast enough growing that the damage is minimal. In the early spring, here in coastal California it is important to bait for snails/slugs, because they can do major damage to new shoots then. For weaker growing hybrids that are not as vigorously evergreen, I tend to cut them back to the ground, because the snails make them look so pitiful once they stop actively growing and the fall/winter rainy season starts up.